1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic heddling apparatus and more particularly to an automatic heddling apparatus which is used in a fabric producing process in that the warp yarns and weft yarns to be woven are interlaced with each other on an ordinary weaving machine, a narrow fabric weaving machine, a narrow-fabric-dedicated needle weaving machine, etc., and which is used especially in its preparation steps in manufacture of the fabric, which is used for automatically passing warp yarns of a fabric to be woven through a corresponding plurality of heddles provided in each one of predetermined heddle frames, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a fabric is manufactured typically, warp and weft yarns are interlaced with each other to be woven into a band on a weaving machine, so that it is necessary to pass all of the warp yarns which make up a fabric one by one through heddles specified in a weave construction chart prepared on the basis of a weaving design of a desired fabric, specifically by, for example, using a wire-shaped or narrow thin-sheet-shaped tool having a hook at its tip to manually pass the warp yarns one by one through each yarn passing eye, i.e., heddle eyes of the heddles typically.
To put it in more detail, paired two operators are engaged in warp passing operation as positioned respectively in front of (a side on which the fabric is discharged out) and behind (a side on which the warp yarns are supplied) a heddle-frame mounting section of a weaving machine to which a necessary number of heddle frames to which the heddles are attached, are mounted.
The operator positioned on the front side inserts the above-mentioned tool through the yarn passing eye, i.e., heddle eyes, of the corresponding heddle in a heddle frame specified by the weave construction chart and then stands by.
The other operator positioned on the rear side picks up one warp yarn out of a group of the warp yarns leased beforehand, from an end portion thereof and brings it by his finger tip to the heddle, and engages it at the tip hook of the tool already inserted through the yarn passing eye of the heddle.
The operator on the front side pulls out the tool through the yarn passing eye and draws the warp yarn toward him, thus completing heddling of one warp yarn.
This heddling operation is repeated for each of the warp yarns until all of them are passed through the yarn passing eyes of the heddles specified by the weave construction chart.
Regarding a wide width fabric for which a large number of warp yarns should be used an apparatus for mechanically and automatically passing the warp yarns through the heddle eyes of the respective heddles attached to a heddle frame, had been already developed for the wide width fabric, while regarding a narrow fabric for which a small number of warp yarns should be used, such an apparatus had not yet developed for such a narrow fabric.
A common technical concept for these two cases, is a technical conception in that “a warp yarn is passed through the yarn passing eye of each one of the heddles attached in a heddle frame manually or using a machine”.
Such conventional technologies of heddling warp yarns either manually or by using a machine does not beyond the conventional technical conception of passing the warp yarns through the yarn passing eyes of the heddles of the heddle frame.
Accordingly, of preparatory steps for weaving such a fabric, a step of warp heddling which requires many man-hours cannot easily be streamlined or automated, so that many weavers still have to be engaged in manual heddling operation, accompanied by delayed developments of an automatic heddling apparatus for fabrics, thus giving rise to a demand for the streamlining or automated heddling job, based on a novel technological concept.